Naval Review

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A Naval Review is an event where select vessels and assets of the United States Navy are paraded to be reviewed by the President of the United States or the Secretary of the Navy. Due to the geographic distance separating the modern U.S. Navy and the deployment rotations of a various ships within a fleet, it would be exceedingly difficult to imagine a situation where even an entire numbered fleet could be presented at one event, to say nothing of the physical cost and logistical requirements to support over 460 ships exceeding 3.4 million tons displacement.

A naval review can also include warships and delegates from other national navies. The largest modern maritime exercise regularly being conducted by the US Navy is the Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC), held biennially during the summer on even-numbered years off the coast of Hawaii. It typically sees the participation of around 50 ships and 200 aircraft, from 2 dozen nations with some 25,000 personnel, culminating in a massive naval review often attended by the Secretary of the Navy, joining the Commander, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet, and other invited dignitaries.

Following is a list of select past Naval Reviews, by President. Each was reviewed by the President, unless otherwise noted.

• Apr to June 1893, at Hampton Roads^{[citation needed]} – International Naval Review, part of the Columbian Exposition – President on board the despatch vessel USS Dolphin, with the following other U.S. naval vessels present:
  • USS Atlanta
  • USS Bennington^[1]
  • USS Charleston
  • USS Chicago (1885)

• 1903 at Oyster Bay, New York – Presidential Fleet Review
• 2–4 September 1906, Oyster Bay, New York – U.S. naval vessels included:
  • USS Florida
  • USS Truxtun
  • USS Yankee
• 10 June 1907 – Presidential Review, from Fort Monroe as part of Jamestown Exposition which laid the groundwork for Naval Station, Norfolk – U.S. naval vessels included USS Georgia, from which 11 June was proclaimed "Georgia Day"
• 16 December 1907, Hampton Roads – Send-off for the Great White Fleet, which included USS Georgia, 15 other battleships, a torpedo boat squadron and transports, USS Truxtun^[2]
• 6–8 May 1908, San Francisco Bay, reviewed by Secretary of the Navy, which included the following units of the Pacific Fleet:
  • USS California
  • USS Georgia
  • USS Washington
  • USS Wisconsin
• 22 February 1909, Hampton Roads – Return of the Great White Fleet, which included the following vessels:
  • USS Idaho
  • USS New Hampshire
  • USS Wisconsin

• 2 November 1910 – Before departure for France
• early November 1911, New York – U.S. naval vessels included:
  • USS South Carolina
  • USS Washington
• 1 April 1912, off Yonkers, New York, which included USS Wisconsin
• 14 October 1912, North River – USS Delaware and USS E-1 passed before the President and the Secretary of the Navy George von L. Meyer
• 10 – 15 October 1912, Philadelphia – USS Iowa (BB-4)

• May 1915, New York Harbor – inc. USS G-4
• 26 December 1918 – New York – reviewed by Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels from the deck of the yacht USS Mayflower and Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin Delano Roosevelt from USS Aztec, which also included USS Wisconsin
• September 1919, San Francisco, including USS Crane (during which she was visited by Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels on 4 September) and USS Dent
• 12 September 1919, Seattle, Washington – U.S. naval vessels included USS Seattle
• late December 1919, North River – Victory Naval Review – U.S. naval vessels included USS Florida

• 28 April 1921, Hampton Roads – Reviewed by President Warren G. Harding, which included the following U.S. naval vessels:
  • USS Delaware
  • USS Dickerson
• April 1921, Norfolk, Virginia, which included the following U.S. naval vessels:
  • USS Graham
  • USS Dahlgren
• 1923, Seattle, Washington, which included USS Arizona^[3] and USS Chase

• June 1927, Hampton Roads – Naval vessels included:
  • USS Seattle
  • USS Concord
  • USS La Vallette
  • USS Somers
  • USS Camden
  • USS Coghlan

• 31 May 1934, New York Harbor, which included the following U.S. naval vessels:
  • USS Chicago (CA-29)
  • USS Salt Lake City
  • USS Dickerson
  • USS Chester
• September–November 1935, San Diego, California which included the following U.S. naval vessels:
  • USS Philip
  • USS Crowninshield
  • USS Concord
• 12 – 14 July 1938, San Francisco, California – USS Houston carried President Roosevelt and also included USS Concord.

• 
  USS Texas, 1940 review
• 
  USS Missouri in the Panama Canal en route to the 1945 review
• 
  Truman, 1945 review
• 
  USS New York at the 1945 review

• Navy Day, 27 October 1940

• Navy Day Fleet Review in New York Harbor, 27 October 1945

11 – 13 June 1957, Hampton Roads – International Naval Review on 350th anniversary of founding of Jamestown, Virginia, which involved 113 ships from seventeen nations, including the French anti-aircraft cruiser De Grasse and the following U.S. naval vessels:^[4]

• USS Saratoga
• USS Iowa (BB-61)
• USS Canberra – Secretary of Defense Charles E. Wilson embarked
• USS Macon
• USS Albany
• USS Northampton
• USS Norfolk – Flagship for Admiral Jerauld Wright, Commander-in-Chief U.S. Atlantic Fleet and Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic
• USS Forrest Royal
• USS Charles H. Roan
• USS Hyman
• USS Hunt
• USS Donner
• USS Ray
• USS Cavalla

• 
  USS Saratoga
• 
  USS Randolph
• 
  USS Iowa
• 
  USS Canberra

26 June 1959, USS Lake St. Louis reviewed by the President and by Queen Elizabeth II, which included USS Forrest Royal and USS Forrest Sherman

1976 - New York Harbor – Fourth International Naval Review in honor of the United States Bicentennial. Set to coincide with Op Sail 1976, which included USS Forrestal as host ship on whose flight deck on 4 July the President rang in the Bicentennial.^[5]

American ships were joined with vessels from the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, France, Italy, West Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, the Soviet Union, Israel, Egypt, Venezuela, Peru, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, South Africa, The Netherlands, & Romania.^[6][7]

"On 3 July, 23 US Naval vessels, and 30 foreign naval vessels began a ship parade from the Verranzano-Narrows Bridge into NY Harbor. This fourth International Naval Review included the first visit in 10 years of a US aircraft carrier to NY."

— Stewart B Milstein, NY Fleet Reviews, http://www.uscs.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/DS19_New-York-Fleet-Reviews-.pdf

"On 4 July, naval vessels representing 21 foreign nations and the United States will form an anchor line of review for more than 225 sailing ships marching up the Hudson in the Operation Sail 1976 parade. Leading the parade will be 16 magnificent anachronisms, tall ships with masts reaching so high that they could not navigate the 127-foot clearance of the lattice worked Brooklyn Bridge."

— Jim O'Doherty, Operation Sail 1976, https://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/document/0204/7347976.pdf

1986 - On July 3–4, the Fifth International Naval Review commemorating the rededication of the Statue of Liberty was held in New York Harbor. Repeating the model from 1776, the warships came in on July 3 and anchored along the channel and the Tall Ships sailed up the Hudson River to the George Washington Bridge past USS John F. Kennedy, where Reagan and other VIPs gathered to review the fleet.^[8]

3–9 July 2000, New York City – Sixth International Naval Review, set to coincide with Op Sail 200, included the following U.S naval vessels:^[10]

Reviewing Ships

• USS Hue City (Clinton's flagship)
• USS John F. Kennedy
• USS John Hancock
• USS Nassau

Parading Vessels

In honor of the United States Semiquincentennial, the United States Navy will host a naval review on 4 July 2026 in New York Harbor.^[12] It is planned for more than 80 ships from 30 countries to be taking part. It wall also coincide with OpSail 2026.

First held in 1971, RIMPAC is the world's largest international maritime warfare exercise. Hosted and administered by the United States Navy's Indo-Pacific Command in conjunction with the Marine Corps, the Coast Guard, and Hawaii National Guard. It is described by the US Navy as a unique training opportunity that helps participants foster and sustain the cooperative relationships that are critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes and security on the world's oceans.^[13]

Although the 2020 RIMPAC exercise was curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 25,000 naval personnel and 52 ships and submarines from 26 countries participated in the 2018 exercises, with forces representing Australia, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, the Republic of Korea, the Republic of the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Vietnam.^[14][15][16]

• 
  SecDef Esper with CINCPACFLT Aquilino at RIMPAC 2020
• 
  SECNAV Richard Spencer meets with RIMPAC 2018 commanders
• 
  Chilean defense minister Alberto Espina participates in RIMPAC 2018
• 
  SECNAV Mabus departs Hickam to review the RIMPAC 2012 fleet

42 ships & subs from 15 nations in close formation during RIMPAC 2014

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Naval reviews of the United States.

• The short film GATHERING OF MEN AND SHIPS, THE (1977) is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive.